homeward bound
by AGENT Kuma-chan
Summary: While Xion, Axel, and Roxas have world-hopped many times looking for a home, they weren't quite desperate enough to live in Halloweentown of all places.


**Title: **homeward bound

**Prompt:** Xion, heartfelt or goofy scenes

**Characters/Pairings:** |

**A/N:** For **AClockworkClown **for the KH secret santa**! **I haven't yet played KH3 but I hear there's good things for the Seasalt Trio, so I set this kinda-post KH3. Hope you enjoy!

**Summary:** _While Xion, Axel, and Roxas have world-hopped many times looking for a home, they weren't quite desperate enough to live in Halloweentown of all places._

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"What the heck?" Roxas stared down at his torn, bloody clothes, at skin that was an ashy-grey. "Guys? Something's wrong."

"That's an understatement," Axel muttered, frowning as he tugged on his own ragged clothing. There was a metal bolt attached to his neck, just visible in the dim light.

Xion glanced around the world they'd arrived in. They were in some corner of a dreary city, the walls around her a faded yellow, and everything she could see was some shade of grey. The only exceptions were the bright orange torches that lined the walls, barely lighting a path deeper into the city. "Where are we?"

"Halloween Town, I think." Axel inspected his hands, tapping the stitches that crossed his fingers. "You don't think these are real, do you?"

Xion hoped not, it looked like he was one cut away from falling apart. The stitches laced his entire body, even his face, and she shivered. Damn, was she cold. Hugging herself, she almost shouted in surprise. While she hadn't changed as much as the others, there was something off about her skin. It glowed a pale white, similar to the moon, and now that she was paying attention, she was floating. Floating a whole foot off the ground. "What happened to us?"

"It happens, sometimes," Axel explained, tearing his eyes away from his hands. "We—"

"Oohhhh," Roxas moaned, his voice low and guttural. He walked forward stiffly, as though he couldn't bend his knees, and held his arms straight up in front of him. The classic zombie walk. "Brains. BRAINS!"

"Oh no! We're in—ahahahah," Xion broke into a peal of laughter, unable to maintain a serious expression. The scenario was too ridiculous and Roxas's acting was as wooden as his acting. She doubled over, wiping her tears.

"BRAAIINNNSS," Roxas shouted one last time, hobbling toward her before breaking into laughter himself. "This is so stupid."

"Not as stupid as you," Axel scoffed, hand on his hip. He gestured at Xion. "That 'ooohh' is what a ghost makes, you know? Not a zombie."

"Oh, that's true." A part of her had to admit there was something on point with her being a ghost. Xion took a deep breath before she tried to deepen her voice as much as possible. "Ooohhhhhh."

"You didn't have to…" Axel trailed off, rubbing his neck. At least, he tried to. The large metal bolt in his neck made it awkward for his hand to touch anything. Tapping the metal, he growled, "This is really annoying."

"Does it hurt?" Xion asked, standing on her tippy toes to peek at it. It looked like the bolt was going through his neck. Which should be impossible.

"Not really. It's just…there," Axel grumbled, lightly tugging at it. "And it's heavy."

"Heavier than your hair?" Roxas teased with a mischievous smirk.

"Heavier than your big head," Axel snapped back, swiping at Roxas. Unfortunately, he nimbly dodged and Axel was left with glaring.

Xion giggled, a thought coming to her. "Maybe that's why you need 'brains'? Cause your missing them?"

Roxas shot her a wounded look. "Xion, not you too."

"Sorry, sorry, couldn't help it." Xion covered her mouth before she could laugh again. The idea was just so stupid and so funny. Her shoulders shaking, she turned back to Axel. "So why are we dressed like this?"

"Yeah." Roxas pulled at the edge of his frayed shirt. "You don't think this is permanent, do you? I kinda liked that shirt."

"It's not like you wear anything else, maybe it's time you got a new wardrobe," Axel suggested wryly. Lacing his hands behind his head, he shrugged. "I think it'll go away when we leave—some worlds are funny like that. They mold you to fit in."

"We're fitting in like this?" Xion grimaced, looking at all three of them again. "If we look this weird, what do the residents look like?"

"Monsters," Roxas stated bluntly. "There's no other option."

"Maybe." Axel reached up to rub his neck again before remembering himself and dropping his hand. He gestured at their surroundings. "I mean, this is where they live, so who knows."

"Yeah." Bouncing on his feet, Roxas skipped forward. "Maybe we can find someone."

"I wonder if they're friendly." Xion clapped her hands eagerly. After a moment, she turned to Axel. "Though I don't think I want to live here."

"Me neither." Axel sighed wearily. "I guess we'll have to pick another world after this."

"Yeah." Xion felt as tired as he sounded. Just how many worlds had they visited by now? And not a single one had felt right. "Maybe we should have just stayed at Destiny Islands."

"Do you really think that?" Axel asked, his expression serious.

"…no, not really," Xion admitted reluctantly. "It's a nice place, really, nothing at all like the organization, but…it's Sora's place. I don't like remembering people, places I'd never been to." She looked ahead at Roxas. "I don't think he liked it either." She glanced at Axel. "But you could have stayed, if you wanted to."

"Nah, it's fine. There's no point in staying without you two." Axel shrugged nonchalantly, the way he always did when he was trying to hide his feelings. "I'd have no one to tease."

"Or to tease you," Xion added, bumping her shoulder against his. Honestly, maybe there wasn't a world she'd like, but she'd be find with whatever Axel or Roxas chose. Home was wherever they were.

"You can try." Axel reached down to ruffle her hair, but his hand slid right through her. Pulling back with a shiver, he muttered, "Yeah, we're definitely not living here."


End file.
